"Echoes of Eden: A Return to Bosch's Garden" embarks on a journey back into the mystical and morally complex universe of Hieronymus Bosch, re-envisioned through the eyes of contemporary artists. This exhibition traverses time and thought, stepping into a world where the fantastical elements of Bosch’s The Garden of Earthly Delights are reborn with a modern twist. The show not only revisits Bosch’s allegories of heaven, hell, and human vice, but also reflects on the perennial tension between utopia and dystopia, inviting viewers to contemplate the fragile boundary between earthly pleasure and spiritual peril.

Artists such as Ivan Floro, José Vivero, Matt Hansel, and Rae Klein draw direct inspiration from Bosch’s complex theological and moral narratives, exploring the eternal themes of heaven, hell, and the fantastical creatures that inhabit these realms. Their works engage with existential questions, presenting a visceral exploration of humanity’s search for salvation amidst chaos and temptation. In contrast, Saffron Newey, Sophie Matisse, and Angela Ferrari blend specific historical painting references with their own abstract contemporary worlds, creating a bridge between the past and present. By juxtaposing Renaissance symbolism with modern abstraction, they invite reflection on the evolution of human perception and the mutable nature of meaning in art.

Gabriele Grones offers a hyper-realistic counterpoint, focusing on the botanical and ecological aspects of Bosch’s work. Through an in-depth study of various plants, Grones highlights their historical uses and symbolic significance, exploring the intimate relationship between humanity and the natural world—a relationship that has long been shaped by both reverence and exploitation.

Meanwhile, Jeannie Weissglass and Karen Kilimnik create vivid, dreamlike visions of nature and the animals that inhabit it, using bold colors to blur the lines between reality and imagination. Their works evoke an almost surrealist quality, suggesting that nature itself is a dreamlike construct—one that can both nurture and deceive.

Ugo Schildge, Sol Bailey Barker, Isabelle Albuquerque, Lindsey Lou Howard, and Levi De Jong mold abstract or obstructed visions of nature, incorporating materials such as aluminum, bronze, concrete, and stoneware to express the materiality of the natural world. Their works question the boundaries between the organic and the industrial, the eternal and the ephemeral, raising questions about nature’s resilience in an age of environmental crisis and technological domination.

Together, these artists bridge centuries, weaving threads of the present into the rich, symbolic tapestry of Bosch’s medieval masterpiece. Through their works, we are invited to explore themes of temptation, indulgence, and the human condition, while also reflecting on how these age-old narratives find new meanings in our contemporary world. The exhibition becomes a philosophical meditation on the cyclical nature of history, the shifting definitions of morality, and the eternal human quest for meaning. Join us as we step back into Bosch’s garden, rediscovering its delights and warnings through a fresh, compelling lens.